The First Descendant: Kate Build & Best Loadout

Welcome to The First Descendant Kate Build Guide for Season 3 Episode 3. In this guide, we’ll show you how to unleash the full potential of Kate. Kate is a bioengineer specializing in biotech research at the Albion Tech Research Institute.

The build will include the perfect weapons, stats, and modules, this guide covers everything you need to create a truly devastating build for Kate. Whether you’re looking to dominate enemies in AoE farming, boss fights, or with a budget-friendly setup, we’ve got you covered.

This is a template.

Table of Contents for the Kate Build:

1. How to play Kate: A Deep Dive
2. Kate Builds Overview – Modules
   1. Kate Mobbing Build
   2. Kate Bossing Build
3. Kate Trigger Module
4. Kate Ancestor Modules
5. Arche Tuning for Kate
6. Kate Equipment Overview
   1. Best Weapons for Kate
   2. Best Reactor for Kate
   3. Best External Components for Kate
   4. Inversion Reinforcements
   5. All Kate Transcendent Modules Explained
7. Kate Basics
   1. How to unlock Kate
   2. Skills Explanation – Master Kate’s Abilities
   3. Module Basics Explained!
   4. Best Grapple Hook for Kate
8. Kate’s Story

For builds on other Descendants, visit our The First Descendant Builds Database, or check out the Character Tier List or the Weapon Tier List.

TFD Wiki: We have expanded Alcasthq with tfd.gameslantern.com, a Wiki & Database for anything related to The First Descendant. Use the Character Editor or the Weapon Editor to theorycraft and create builds yourself. Browse Descendants, Weapons, Leaderboard Loadouts or use the Compare Tool. There are plenty of other features you can check out, too!

Here is a quick list of the strengths and weaknesses of the Kate Build for The First Descendant.

How to Play Kate in the First Descendant

In this section we are going to take a look at how Kate works in The First Descendant. Kate is an X. Learn about her skills in detail in Kate’s Skill Explanation section. Kate’s Transcendent Modules are X!

Kate’s AoE Capabilities: X

Kate’s role is described as an X

XXX

– For more challenging dungeons or content, the Kate Mobbing Build balances AoE damage power with survivability.

Kate’s Single Target Damage: X

While KateX

XXX

• The Kate Bossing Build offers solid survivability, sustain and great damage with a short cooldown on Kate’s skills.

Kate’s Equipment: Make Or Break It!

To unlock Kate’s full potential, you need the right Weapons, Reactors, and External Components:

• Weapons: Focus on two general damage-dealing weapons and one weapon tailored to whatever you need for utility or special mechanics. See the Best Weapons for Kate section.
• Reactors: Selecting the right reactor can drastically boost your damage. Check out the Best Reactors for Kate section.
• External Components: These are critical for survivability. Properly configured, they double or tripple your HP or DEF. Learn more in the Best External Components for Kate section.

Building a top-tier The First Descendant Kate Build requires not only the right modules but also optimized weapons, reactors, and components.

Best Kate Builds Overview for The First Descendant

In this section, we are going to look at the different best Kate Build Setups for The First Descendant. The optimized setups require a lot of Crystallization Catalysts. We have a full guide on how to farm Crystallization Catalysts in The First Descendant. The Budget setup requires no Crystallization Catalysts.

All Kate build setups require an Energy Activator to increase the Module Capacity. We also have an in-depth guide on how to farm Energy Activators in The First Descendant. Additionally, you will need plenty of Kuiper Shards and Gold to increase Module Levels. Here are the Top 3 Kuiper Shard farm spots!

Equipment: I will cover Weapons, Reactors, and External Components in the Kate Equipment section. To maximize the power of any build, you must get the correct items!

• How to get Modules: Read the Module Farming section.
• 85 Module Capacity How? Read the basics Module section.

Kate Mobbing Build

Kate Bossing Build for The First Descendant

Kate Equipment Overview in The First Descendant

Equipment is the cornerstone of any successful The First Descendant Build. For Kate, having the right setup can mean the difference between dominating a dungeon and falling short. This section breaks down the essential equipment types—Weapons, Reactors, External Components, and Transcendent Modules—and explains how they maximize her power.

Kate Equipment Guide

Equipment Type	Importance	Key Benefits
Weapons	Critical for maximizing damage.	Increases overall DPS. Amplifies the effectiveness of skills. Proper weapon selection can double or triple damage.
Reactors	Essential for boosting skill damage. Incorrect reactors severely reduce effectiveness.	Enhances skill potency. Ensures Kate’s abilities perform at peak levels.
External Components	Arguably the most impactful equipment. Dramatically improves survivability and utility. Set Buffs with 2/4 pieces.	Quadruples stats like HP or DEF. Adds utility like MP recovery. Enables effective performance in high-difficulty content. Core System Enhancements.
Inversion Reinforcements	Adds further buffs to your build.	Perks that can make a difference in build power.
Transcendent Modules	Unlocks advanced playstyles. Essential for specialized builds.	Significantly boosts skill efficiency and power.

Best Weapon for the Kate Build in The First Descendant

Here, you will find the Top 3 Weapons for Kate in The First Descendant that I love to run, among some alternative weapons that you can also test out if you want.

X

Best Reactor for Kate in The First Descendant

Selecting the best reactor for Kate in The First Descendant can significantly enhance her abilities, allowing you to maximize her effectiveness in various scenarios. Not only does the reactor determine your skill damage, but it also gives additional secondary benefits through modifiers. These are often hard to get and take time to grind out!

It is hard to get a Reactor with two best in-slot specs. However, you should be able to get a Reactor with at least one good spec. I will highlight the more important spec in bold in the table below.

How to find the Location of Reactors

Reactor drop locations change every day. Not many players know this. Now there is a reactor search function in-game. Go to the map and press on Difficulty Level Rewards. In here you can see where currently all the reactors drop.

Note: It is possible that no such reactors drop currently. Come back here every day and check if one drops.

If our specified reactor drops in an area, you go there and farm missions and monsters. There will be plenty of reactors dropping from monsters all over the place, any monster works. It will take a while to get a good reactor!

Best External Components for the Kate Build

The best External Components set that works with the Kate Build is called the Slayer Set. It drops only Pyromaniac Colossus on hard difficulty in The First Descendant.

Slayer Set Bonuses:

• 2 Set Bonus:
  • General Rounds Capacity +8%
• 4 Set Bonus:
  • Rounds per Magazine +9%
  • Skill Cost +15%
  • Skill Power 26.1%
  • When defeating enemies inflicted with Towed, recovers MP and Specialized Resource by 12.2% at a 17% chance.

Inversion Reinforcements Setup for Kate

You can find the Inversion Reinforcements in the inventory, located on the bottom left side. This changes with every new season and needs to be leveled up again. You level up Inversion Reinforcements by doing any activity. However, the fastest way to advance it is by completing Disrupt Invasion (max 4 daily) in the dungeon terminal with the red dungeons.

At max level, you have unlocked everything. While the last perk is always active in each row, you can only slot three additional perks at the bottom. Here is what you want to prioritize:

Kate Inversion Reinforcements:

• Hunt: Arche Circulation Tactic.
• Attribute: None.
• Recovery: Selective Neurostimulation.
• Survival: Deploy Hardened Shell.
• Season: None.

All Kate Transcendent Modules Explained

First, let us look at the full list of all Transcendent Modules for Kate in The First Descendant. It is important to note that not all of the modules will be used. Some are more effective than others!

X Transcendent Module

• X
• X is an Kate-exclusive Transcendent Module.

How to get Kate’s X Module:

• Kingston: Slumber Valley (Hard Difficulty)
• Obstructor (Hard Difficulty)
• Module Combine.

X Transcendent Module

X is a Kate-exclusive Transcendent Module.

How to get Kate’s X Module:

• Hagios: The Haven (Hard Difficulty)
• Frost Walker (Hard Difficulty)
• Module Combine.

Kate Basics in The First Descendant

If it is your first time playing Kate in The First Descendant, here are some useful things you should know.

1. How to unlock Kate
2. Kate Skills Explanation – Master Kate’s Abilities
3. Module Basics Explained!
4. Best Grapple Hook for Kate

How to Unlock Kate in The First Descendant

Let’s take a quick look at how to unlock Kate in the First Descendant. To unlock Kate, you have to purchase her from the store, or research her. You need the following items to research Kate:

• 1x Kate Enhanced Cells
  • Location: X
• 1x Kate Stabilizer
  • Location: X
• 1x Kate Spiral Catalyst
  • Location: X
• 1x Kate Code
  • Location: X
• 400k Credits

When you visit Magisters Anais at the Research Institute you can hover over each item. Then click on Acquisition Info and it will tell you where this specific item drops.

The First Descendant Kate Skills Explained

In this section, we will explain the skills available to our Kate Build in the First Descendant, how each skill works, and the best ways for you to use them.

Kate’s skill loadout is themed around electric, applying electric damage to many enemies at once in a big radius.

 

Skill Name	Type	Effect	Best Use Case
X	AoE		AoE Damage
X	AoE		Utility
X	AoE		Utility
X	AoE, Snare		Snare & AoE Damage
X (Passive)	Passive		Is always active

X Skill 1

X

X Skill Description:

• X

X Skill 2

X

X Description:

X

X Skill 3

X

X Description:

• X

X Skill 4

X

X Description:

• X

X (Passive)

X

X Passive Description:

• X

How Modules Work in The First Descendant

Modules are the bread and butter of all The First Descendant Builds. There are a few important things to remember about modules. This is for both Descendant and Weapon Modules.

While most builds require you to increase Module Capacity with an Energy Activator (you get two for free), they won’t require you to reduce the Module cost with Crystallization Catalyst. However, if you want to truly min-max a build, you will need plenty of these Catalysts.

1. How to increase your Module Capacity
2. Module Levels and Cost
   1. Kuiper Shards & best way to farm!
3. Reduce the cost of Modules
4. How to farm Modules

How to Increase Module Capacity

You get a base of 45 Modules for every Descendant character. And you can increase this up to 85 currently. First off, always slot a Sub Attack Module (Slot 7). When you increase this to the max level you will get an additional 10 Module Capacity. if you use a Crystallization Catalyst on the Sub Attack Module, you even get 15 extra slots. You will see this in the setup below.

Additionally, you can use an Energy Activator to increase your Module Capacity by another 20. However, these are fairly hard to farm, only use them on your best Descendants.

Lastly, increasing your Mastery Rank will also increase Module Capacity. Rank 1 gives you 25 Module Capacity, Rank 20 gives you 50 Module Capacity. That is how we reach the 80 Module Capacity that you see on most builds.

1. Slot a Sub Attack Module (and max it out to get +10 capacity, crystallize it for +15)
2. Use an Energy Activator (2o extra capacity)
3. Increase Mastery Rank (25 base capacity, max 50)

Weapons: Basically the same, but because you don’t have Subattack Modules, the Energy Activator gives you 30 instead of just 20 extra capacity.

You can also read my in-depth guide on how to increase Module Capacity in The First Descendant if you need more information. Or my Best Energy Activator Farm Spots and our Best Crystallization Catalyst Farm Spots. I tested all of the grind spots by myself and have already farmed plenty of these items with this method.

Module Levels and Cost

Modules can be enhanced (leveled up) with Kuiper Shards in The First Descendant. Enhancing Modules increases their power. At higher levels, the power will increase way more than at lower levels. Therefore it is always recommended to max out the most important Module first.

Here is an example of a must-have Module called Increased HP for our Descendant. You will notice that we start at 22%, but at the max level, we get a whopping 218.5% increase in health!

Transcendent Modules are the exception; they decrease Capacity Cost with higher levels!

For an in-depth overview, please visit our How to Level Up Modules in The First Descendant guide.

How to Farm Kuiper Shards

Kuiper Shards are used to level up Modules. We have a guide on the Top 3 Kuiper Shard Farming Locations in the First Descendant. We explain how to most efficiently farm Kuiper Shards (300-500k/hour) and show the amount you need to level up mods. As a summary, to max out a Module you need:

• Normal Modules: 103’100 Kuiper Shards
• Rare Modules: 206’200 Kuiper Shards
• Ultimate Modules: 309’300 Kuiper Shards
• Transcendent Modules: 515’500 Kuiper Shards

Always max out the most important Modules first, we will showcase the order below.

How to Reduce the Cost of Modules

To reduce the cost of Modules you need Crystallization Catalysts in The First Descendant. These require a lot of time investment, most builds won’t require you to get many if any at all (Budget Setup). But if you want to completely min-max you need to get plenty of them as technically, every slot can have a specific socket type to half the cost.

Modules have Socket Types. Our Increased HP Module has the Cerulean Socket Type.

• Module: Increased HP
• Socket Type: Cerulean

This is important because if we place our Increased HP Module in the fitting Socket Type, it will half the cost of the Module!

How to farm Modules in The First Descendant

Most The First Descendant Modules can be acquired fairly easily, but the higher-quality ones (Ultimate, Transcendent) are more tedious to obtain. Here is the easiest process to farm Modules quickly.

Open Map > Swap to Access Info > Select Modules

Here, you can find all Modules and their drop locations. If a module drops from several locations, it is recommended to select drop locations with higher drop chances.

There isn’t really much more to this. Simply check the location and go farm. Normal and Rare quality Modules have 30-50% drop chances in most cases. Ultimate ones range around the 5% mark and Transcendent ones can be a tough cookie with around 2% drop chance.

We will list the best farming location of modules in the next step of the guide.

Smooth Grapple Hook for your Kate Build

Using the standard Grapple Hook in The First Descendant can be a pain, and it feels kinda frustrating at times. Don’t worry, there is a way better alternative that will make it a joy to use the grappling hook!

It is called the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module. I use this on all my The First Descendant Builds because it improves grappling by so much.

With this Module, you can attach your Grapple Hook to anything, even air! That means you can simply aim towards the sky and Hook up your grapple hook there for guaranteed fast movement!

Here is a guide on how to get the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module in The First Descendant. It won’t take a lot of effort, but it will improve your build and overall gameplay in The First Descendant.

Kate’s Story in The First Descendant

X

Kate’s Exclusive Equipment –

Related Guides for The First Descendant

You can also check out our Builds Database for The First Descendant or the TFD Tier List to see where characters rank!